1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to surgical apparatus relating to severing specimens of skin, and more particularly, is directed to a dermatome capable of accurately reproducing the area and depth of cut of a series of specimen wounds.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Numerous instruments have been developed by prior workers in the art for removing portions of the epidermis for skin grafts and other purposes. Such specialized instruments are generally referred to as dermatomes and these instruments have found considerable acceptance for the special purposes for which they have been employed.
The prior art types of dermatomes generally employ a sharp cutting implement or blade which is adapted to slice through the epidermis to produce acceptable specimens for skin transplant and other purposes. In one widely accepted application, skin transplants of various widths are utilized for plastic surgery purposes during the treatment of large burn areas. The prior art dermatomes that have been developed for this purpose usually employ some type of means for adjusting the thickness of the transplant being cut away and for limiting the thickness of the cut.
Some of the dermatomes that have been developed to date for skin grafting and other purposes are quite complicated in construction and have required considerable training and practice prior to use. While such devices had to be relatively sensitive in operation and precise in function for the intended purposes, the dermatomes that have heretofore been designed and manufactured have generally proved to be incapable of accurately reproducing a plurality of predetermined, similar wounds having substantially identical areas of cut and similar depth of cut. Additionally, the very nature of the operation of dermatomes has rendered their use considerably uncomfortable for the patient and the process of removing portions of the epidermis for skin grafting could be accompanied with a great deal of pain, unless some suitable means for anesthetizing the site could be employed. In many instances, a local anesthetic could not be employed because the injection of the anesthetics would have a tendency to distort the site and thereby inherently interfere with the accuracy or precision of the cut.
So far as is known to the present applicant, none of the prior art types of dermatomes have been particularly designed to achieve relatively uniform, reproducible wounds and specimens of skin by precisely controlling the area and the depth of cut.